Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10520 on 9 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

In recognition of the efforts of the Scottish Government and livestock industry to control and eradicate bovine tuberculosis Scotland has been accorded Officially Tuberculosis Free (OTF) status by the European Union.

To help maintain that status, the Scottish Government works jointly with the other UK administrations to consider all the latest developments and research relating to bovine tuberculosis. That collaboration includes membership of the Tuberculosis Liaison Group (which brings together the Chief Veterinary Officer from each administration), the Diagnostic Programme Advisory Group and the Vaccines Programme Advisory Group.

The Scottish Government submitted a response to the European Commission’s Committee of the Regions questionnaire on the review of the air quality directive in November 2011.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10520 on 9 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The National Equine Database (NED) does not support equine disease control strategies. It does not contain horse location data, nor does it record animal movement data, and is therefore of very limited use in the event of disease incursion. NED is also of limited value in dealing with abandoned horses as these animals are frequently not identified.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-10520 on 9 November 2012. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

There has been no discussions with the UK Government to exclude bank holidays from the seven day requirement for the notification of cattle deaths. The British Cattle Movement Service, who operate the Cattle Tracing System on behalf of Ministers in Scotland, England and Wales adopts a pragmatic approach to such matters.

Veterinary medicines are normally developed by commercial enterprises, which must (as the licensing of veterinary medicines is a reserved matter) seek a licence from the UK Government. No vaccine for the Schmallenberg virus has yet been approved for use in the UK.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code was prepared by Scottish Natural Heritage and agreed by Parliament in 2004. Scottish Natural Heritage continues to keep the Code under review, but there are no proposals to modify it.

Where topics covered by the Code have required more detailed guidance, Scottish Natural Heritage has worked with the National Access Forum to produce supplementary guidance, for example on informal camping, stalking, dogs and ground-nesting birds, and large outdoor events.

The information is not available.

Animals that test positive are slaughtered and usually subjected to a post mortem, samples may also be taken to see if Mycobacterium bovis can be grown in a laboratory. However, neither of those approaches can conclusively prove that an animal was free of bovine tuberculosis (that is, is a false positive). Nonetheless, evidence suggests that in Great Britain when cattle without bTB are tested there is a 1 in 1,000 chance that an animal will be wrongly classified.

Animals that test negative are not slaughtered to prevent disease spread and therefore not subject to post mortem examination, it is not therefore possible to identify false negatives.